Top 10 Best Denzel Washington Acting Performances
by Rama_Andor1416 | created - 04 Feb 2013 | updated - 02 Jun 2022 | PublicHe really is one of the greatest actors maybe of all time and with action movies like Man on Fire, 2 Guns and other Tony Scott films it proves that he is both dedicated to pull off a great performance in anything and he is really stepping up his game great actor with great films and hope he gets another Oscar soon
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1. Man on Fire (2004)
R | 146 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In Mexico City, a former CIA operative swears vengeance on those who committed an unspeakable act against the family he was hired to protect.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Denzel Washington, Christopher Walken, Dakota Fanning, Radha Mitchell
Votes: 389,467 | Gross: $77.91M
2. Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A Black war hero is hired to find a mysterious woman, and gets mixed up in a murderous political scandal in 1948 Los Angeles.
Director: Carl Franklin | Stars: Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals, Don Cheadle
Votes: 24,190 | Gross: $16.03M
3. The Hurricane (1999)
R | 146 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
The story of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Denzel Washington, Vicellous Shannon, Deborah Kara Unger, Liev Schreiber
Votes: 102,444 | Gross: $50.67M
4. Malcolm X (1992)
PG-13 | 202 min | Biography, Drama, History
Biographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster, to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam and his eventual assassination.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo, Spike Lee
Votes: 102,001 | Gross: $48.17M
5. Flight (I) (2012)
R | 138 min | Drama, Thriller
Troubling questions arise after airline pilot Whip Whitaker makes a miracle landing after a mid-air catastrophe.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Denzel Washington, Nadine Velazquez, Don Cheadle, John Goodman
Votes: 376,080 | Gross: $93.77M
6. American Gangster (2007)
R | 157 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An outcast New York City cop is charged with bringing down Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas, whose real life inspired this partly biographical film.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin
Votes: 452,411 | Gross: $130.16M
7. Training Day (2001)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A rookie cop spends his first day as a Los Angeles narcotics officer with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears to be.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Tom Berenger
Votes: 472,704 | Gross: $76.63M
8. Glory (1989)
R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, History
Robert Gould Shaw leads the U.S. Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices from both his own Union Army, and the Confederates.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman
Votes: 144,388 | Gross: $26.83M
9. Inside Man (2006)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A police detective, a bank robber, and a high-power broker enter high-stakes negotiations after the criminal's brilliant heist spirals into a hostage situation.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 397,749 | Gross: $88.51M
10. He Got Game (1998)
R | 136 min | Drama, Sport
A basketball player's father must try to convince him to go to a college so he can get a shorter sentence.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Denzel Washington, Milla Jovovich, Ray Allen, Rosario Dawson
Votes: 51,440 | Gross: $21.55M
11. Remember the Titans (2000)
PG | 113 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
In 1971 Virginia high school football was everything to the people of Alexandria. But when the school board was forced to integrate an all-black school with an all-white one, the very foundation of football's tradition was put to the test.
Director: Boaz Yakin | Stars: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst
Votes: 231,855 | Gross: $115.65M
12. John Q (2002)
PG-13 | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
John Quincy Archibald takes a hospital emergency room hostage when his insurance won't cover his son's heart transplant.
Director: Nick Cassavetes | Stars: Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall, Gabriela Oltean, Kimberly Elise
Votes: 143,658 | Gross: $71.76M
13. Crimson Tide (1995)
R | 116 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
On a U.S. nuclear missile sub, a young First Officer stages a mutiny to prevent his trigger happy Captain from launching his missiles before confirming his orders to do so.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Gene Hackman, Denzel Washington, Matt Craven, George Dzundza
Votes: 123,275 | Gross: $91.40M
14. Philadelphia (1993)
PG-13 | 125 min | Drama
When a man with HIV is fired by his law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Roberta Maxwell, Buzz Kilman
Votes: 258,006 | Gross: $77.32M
15. The Equalizer (2014)
R | 132 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A man who believes he has put his mysterious past behind him cannot stand idly by when he meets a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour
Votes: 419,874 | Gross: $101.53M
16. 2 Guns (2013)
R | 109 min | Action, Comedy, Thriller
Two hardened criminals get into trouble with the US border patrol after meeting with a Mexican drug lord, and then revelations start to unfold.
Director: Baltasar Kormákur | Stars: Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Paula Patton, Bill Paxton
Votes: 225,316 | Gross: $75.61M
17. Safe House (2012)
R | 115 min | Action, Thriller
A young CIA agent is tasked with looking after a fugitive in a safe house. But when the safe house is attacked, he finds himself on the run with his charge.
Director: Daniel Espinosa | Stars: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Robert Patrick, Vera Farmiga
Votes: 235,520 | Gross: $126.37M
18. The Book of Eli (2010)
R | 118 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A drifter fights his way across a ravaged, post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book that holds the secrets to humanity's salvation.
Directors: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes | Stars: Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, Gary Oldman
Votes: 339,276 | Gross: $94.84M
19. Out of Time (I) (2003)
PG-13 | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A Florida police chief must solve a vicious double homicide before he himself falls under suspicion.
Director: Carl Franklin | Stars: Denzel Washington, Sanaa Lathan, Eva Mendes, Dean Cain
Votes: 65,637 | Gross: $41.09M
20. Ricochet (1991)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A District Attorney is terrorized by the criminal he put away years ago when he was a cop.
Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Denzel Washington, John Lithgow, Ice-T, Kevin Pollak
Votes: 20,380 | Gross: $21.76M
21. Unstoppable (2010)
PG-13 | 98 min | Action, Thriller
With an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train barreling toward a city, a veteran engineer and a young conductor race against the clock to prevent a catastrophe.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Ethan Suplee
Votes: 207,730 | Gross: $81.56M
22. The Magnificent Seven (2016)
PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Seven gunmen from a variety of backgrounds are brought together by a vengeful young widow to protect her town from the private army of a destructive industrialist.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio
Votes: 228,141 | Gross: $93.43M
23. Mo' Better Blues (1990)
R | 130 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Jazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam makes questionable decisions in his professional and romantic lives.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes, Giancarlo Esposito
Votes: 13,655 | Gross: $16.15M
24. Fences (2016)
PG-13 | 139 min | Drama
A working-class African-American father tries to raise his family in the 1950s, while coming to terms with the events of his life.
Director: Denzel Washington | Stars: Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jovan Adepo
Votes: 117,984 | Gross: $57.68M
25. The Equalizer 2 (2018)
R | 121 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Robert McCall serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, but how far will he go when that is someone he loves?
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Orson Bean
Votes: 197,572 | Gross: $102.08M
26. The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
R | 106 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garber into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Luis Guzmán, Victor Gojcaj
Votes: 208,002 | Gross: $65.45M
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